Hart House Global Commons Design Jam: Exploring Migration Stories

Explore and unpack the complexities of migration through storytelling, art, and design.

About the Global Commons

The Hart House Global Commons is an international dialogue space that connects students participating from multiple global locations to engage in real-time conversations about issues that are pressing and pertinent to everyone, regardless of place. We hope you will join us for a unique opportunity to connect across contexts, exchange dialogue and perspectives, and learn from each other—all without leaving your living space!

What students are saying about the Global Commons Design Jam

"... the literal definition of learning made fun!"

"I can clearly see the value of multi-continental collaboration and engagement, particularly in terms of a crisis that is so global."

"I believe that the design thinking process is a great tool for the collaborative projects."

"Collaborating with people from different parts of the world taught me how to collectively solve a problem and make progress towards a common goal."

About the Design Jam

Hosted by Hart House Global Commons, the design jam is a two-part workshop that invites participants to explore and unpack the complexities of migration through storytelling, art and design. Guest speakers with lived experience of migration and creative activism anchor the event with narrative storytelling, laying the groundwork for a deep dive into a collective design process. Participants will be guided through design research activities both individually and in facilitated breakout groups, with ample opportunities for dialogue and making new connections. We invite you to participate!

The Vancouver Design Nerds, a non-profit organization specializing in creative engagement, bring theory and process to the Design Jam. Design research is an approach used to foster understanding and build bridges toward addressing complex issues and challenges, but it is important to note that “problem solving” migration is not the goal of this event. We are convening because migration is a global issue that intersects with many other challenges facing the world today. We will use story and creative methods to explore the topic of migration to understand its implications more deeply. Participants will leave with new tools that can be applied in any field.

Guest Speakers

Myria Georgiou
Professor, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics

Professor Georgiou researches and teaches on migration and urbanization in the context of intensified mediation. Adopting a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, she is committed to putting the human of the urban, transnationally connected world at the core of her research. Specifically, in research conducted across 6 countries over the last 20 years, she has been studying communication practices and media representations that profoundly, but unevenly, shape meanings and experiences of citizenship and identity.
Professor Georgiou is the author and editor of four books and more than sixty peer reviewed publications. Her work has been published in English, French, Portuguese, Japanese, and Greek. She has also worked as a consultant for a number of regional and international organizations, most importantly the Council of Europe in three different projects. She has written for and been interviewed by a number of national and international media, while, before becoming a full time academic, she worked as a journalist for BBC World Service, Greek press, and the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
Professor Georgiou's areas of expertise include Migration and the Media; City and Urban Communication; Identity and Diaspora; Transnational Communities and Networks; Audience Research; and Media and Everyday Life.
Masoud Riyazati
Artist

Meet Masoud, an artist with over a decade of experience in documentary work and portrait photography. He is also an award-winning film maker and an experienced film editor. As part of his photography-based residency, he will conduct workshops on advances in the development of photographic practices. Additionally, his images, which offer fresh and distinctive insights on having recently navigated a new culture, will be showcased in April. Through an innovative darkroom printing technique called “uneven development,” Masoud will create an unforgettable series of black-and-white photographs that depict the feelings of migrants while adjusting to their new lives ‒ their journey, their losses and successes, their grief and happiness. Notably, his photograph, “Terror,” won the K.B. Jackson Award in Portraiture in the Hart House Camera Club’s 97th Exhibition in 2019.
Masoud Riyazati is a multidisciplinary artist who draws inspiration from his life journey and brings lived experiences into his photography, films, and music. He was born in Iran and moved to Canada in his late twenties. Later, he applied to the University of Toronto, where he is finishing his Anthropology and Visual Arts degrees. Throughout his studies, he has been active in the art community, producing award-winning photography and experimental film.
In 2019, Masoud travelled to Turkey to interview refugee families struggling to care for their ill children as part of a campaign to amplify their voices. He is currently a Hart House Artist in Residency, working on a photo essay exploring the emotional effects of migration and finding one's place in the world.
Photo by Sunny Kooner.

Who Can Participate?

Students from any discipline, year of study, and location are encouraged to register (not only those from organizing locations)!

What to Expect

This workshop series is hands on and interactive!

It takes place on 2 consecutive Saturdays on March 4 and 11.

Participants are expected to join both sessions. But don't worry, it's not your whole Saturday, and it will be worth it!

Technical Considerations

You will need a reliable internet connection to participate in this series (please contact us if you require access support)
Please consider attending the event on a laptop or desktop computer, this will offer the best collaborative experience (as opposed to a mobile device or calling in)
Please update to the latest version of the Zoom app, if possible
This event will be hosted in English
Watch this quick video tutorial for an introduction to the digital whiteboard platform MURAL.co (don't worry, we'll teach everyone how to use this during the event)

Credit

Some university partners are offering co-curricular and/or course credit to students who participate in this series. Event Organizers will provide this information during the series.